British Airways to launch new London Gatwick to Milan Bergamo flights and increases Cancun

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• Scallder says:

  23 Mar23 March 08:28

  Article in the Times today about a review by Which? of airport lounges. Focussed on paid for – best were 1903 at Manchester, The House at Heathrow T4 and No 1 in Heathrow T3 all which got 4 stars. None for 5 stars and general overview was that often people are better off just spending their money in the terminal.

  Best bit though was that they reviewed 2 BA lounges and the Galleries Club Lounge at T3 was given 3 stars as the food was described as “canteen fare”. Defintely hit the nail on the head!

  • Lady London says:

    23 Mar23 March 09:25

    Surprises thé good in thé British Airways louanges at Heathrow even got three stars at all. Most days i’d give it 2 at very best or more likely, 1.5

    • Lady London says:

      23 Mar23 March 09:26

      *That was…..surprised the *food

    • Rob says:

      23 Mar23 March 09:56

      I was in that Which? Travel report, I am guessing my bits have not been copied into the Times.

    • Shoestring says:

      23 Mar23 March 10:36

      https://www.which.co.uk/news/2018/03/best-and-worst-airport-lounges-in-the-uk/
      no paywall

      • Shoestring says:

        23 Mar23 March 10:37

        but it’s from 2018

      • Shoestring says:

        23 Mar23 March 10:38

        https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/03/best-and-worst-airport-lounges-in-the-uk-2/
        2019 🙂

      • Shoestring says:

        23 Mar23 March 16:39

        [The airport experience can conjure up a mix of excitement and anticipation about your upcoming trip. So which airports can you expect to send you off in style, and which could leave you stuck in a lengthy queue? To find out, we asked passengers about their airport experiences and with more than 11,000 responses you can use their views to fly from the best UK airports and avoid the worst.]

        Well, a nice lounge is great of course but a convenient/ good value flight that gets me where I want to go is about 1000 times more important… you might have particularly good lounges on your wishlist but are you really going to switch from the best flight to a lesser one just to enjoy the lounge?

      • David says:

        23 Mar23 March 23:41

        Not just the flight – also the destination! I decided to book a trip to Hong Kong mostly because of the lounges there…

        See also trips to Gibraltar and Luxembourg, on the basis that they are T3 destinations so can access CX/QF.

  • Catalan says:

    23 Mar23 March 10:45

    Was Virgin’s Heathrow T3 Clubhouse lounge featured at all?

    • Shoestring says:

      23 Mar23 March 16:42

      no because Which? only looked at pay-for-entry lounges

      • Catalan says:

        23 Mar23 March 19:21

        But they mentioned the ‘canteen’ food at T5 Galleries, no?

      • Shoestring says:

        23 Mar23 March 19:29

        guess so

  • Gerry says:

    23 Mar23 March 13:14

    I visited the 1903 in Manchester last year on the advice of Rob – great advice as usual, really enjoyed my time there. Thought in particular that the staff were fab.
    Re the Aspire Lounge at Edinburgh Airport, sadly the report seems to have it spot-on. No.1 Lounge at Edinburgh by far the better choice.

    • Alan says:

      24 Mar24 March 18:29

      Although I like the new No 1 (and it finally has its own loos!) I still find the food selection to be decent in the Aspire. Plus right next to the BA lounge so you can pop in and get 50 Aspire Rewards points, grab some hot food and then head to BA and wait for boarding announcement!

• TrollBasher says:

  23 Mar23 March 08:58

  Why the total lack of love for LGW regarding heritage liveries?

  With the exception of the F Lounge, everything seems second hand or an afterthought to BA over there.

  Share the love !

  • Nick_C says:

    23 Mar23 March 10:59

    A Dan Air and BCal would be nice to see at LGW. (Actually it would be nice if the airlines themselves were still around. Capitalism only works where there is competition).

    • Mike says:

      23 Mar23 March 18:54

      The DC10s spent time in Landor.

      I appreciate why they wouldn’t want to dig up their takeover past.

      However, a beach fleet B777 in Landor wouldn’t be too much of an ask, surely..?

      Rob, has any comment been made about LGW?

      • Rob says:

        23 Mar23 March 19:10

        No, only these 4 planes are being done.

• Munch says:

  23 Mar23 March 11:14

  OT – I’m 300 points short for a redemption on Hertz car rental. Anyone know how I can earn the extra 300 points without renting a car? I’ve combined my account with the OH so not sure of any other options.

  • Rash says:

    23 Mar23 March 11:58

    The only way to earn is on Hertz

    • Alan says:

      24 Mar24 March 18:30

      Yeah, they used to have a feedback hub that earned points but they closed that (for UK at least)

  • Lady London says:

    23 Mar23 March 18:47

    Click on thé offers tab(s). They have local offers and global offers to click for. Also check offers on other country H’s especially US and Germany. Remember cost of a day car Hire using the credits varies by Continent. Usually cheapest are weekends.

• Nigel says:

  23 Mar23 March 12:48

  OT: I’ve realised I need to buy Hilton Points – does anybody know roughly how often their 100% bonus comes around? I think I’ve just missed one…

  • Rob says:

    23 Mar23 March 14:30

    Something every 2 months or so.

• Bee says:

  23 Mar23 March 13:40

  For the BA offer…is a return deemed to be 2 flights.

  Also if I book a flight for myself and one for my child who is on the household account, is it deemed to be 2 flights towards the household’s 6 flights ?

  • Rob says:

    23 Mar23 March 14:27

    It is 6 flights per individual account. Not sure if kids accounts can register.

    • Bee says:

      23 Mar23 March 15:03

      Thanks but is a return deemed as 2 flights?

      • Rob says:

        23 Mar23 March 17:10

        Yes

    • BlueHorizonUK says:

      23 Mar23 March 19:39

      I registered my daughter and it was successful

• Aleks Nicole says:

  23 Mar23 March 15:59

  O/T but way back in Nov 16 HFP ran a piece explaining the ‘best Virgin Atlantic redemption’ at the time (Hong Kong). Now that tax surcharges have been added to these flights therefore making them not nearly as beneficial, what any idea what the best redemption is currently?

  • Freddy says:

    23 Mar23 March 16:18

    With the exodus from amex this certainly would be of interest

  • BJ says:

    23 Mar23 March 17:25

    Best redemption is where you want to go at the time you want to go. Somebody commented a few days ago that BA are still not applying surcharges to exUK flights; are Virgin already doing so?

  • Alan says:

    24 Mar24 March 18:31

    I’d still say ANA F using VS miles for 120k + £400 return is pretty damned good.

• illuminatus says:

  23 Mar23 March 16:45

  I have had my Iberia Plus account for over 90 days.

  Am I correct that I need to transfer some points from Amex first to be able to combine Avios with BA Executive Club?

  • Shoestring says:

    23 Mar23 March 16:57

    no

  • Peter 64K says:

    23 Mar23 March 16:58

    You need at least one point of activity to combine avios with BA, yes. Amex is one option. The Iberia PluStore is another.

    • illuminatus says:

      23 Mar23 March 17:05

      Thanks. Are there any restrictions on moving in terms of how often it can be done?

    • Shoestring says:

      23 Mar23 March 17:05

      but he’s got something to combine already

      • illuminatus says:

        23 Mar23 March 17:06

        My Iberia account is 0, ie I want to move Avios from BA to Iberia

      • illuminatus says:

        23 Mar23 March 17:10

        Do I need to open an iTunes Espana account for that? Or clicking through Iberia PluStore is enough?

        Is is quicker than transferring from Amex, which says ‘4 days’?

• Anna says:

  23 Mar23 March 19:43

  OT – HH visa (not very topical this weekend, I know!) As I won’t be relying on Platinum Amex for my gold status in future, I’ll be looking to the visa to retain it. I think the spend is £10k per year to retain gold but is this card year or calendar year? Or rolling 12 month period?

  • Anna says:

    23 Mar23 March 19:52

    Of course I’ve found it now – calendar year, £10k spend gets you old status for the rest of the year plus the following year. I’ll probably manage 24 months without the Platinum as we only refer each other and get travel insurance through work.

    • KBuffett says:

      23 Mar23 March 20:42

      If you do Diamond status match, are you sure spending £10k a year allows you to retain this status?

      Also, is Revolut still working with a Hilton?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        23 Mar23 March 20:51

        It allows you to retain gold not diamond.

        Only hitting the actual requirements will help you retain diamond after it lapses as status matches are normally a one time thing.

      • BJ says:

        23 Mar23 March 20:58

        @TGL, always worth trying a second status match if required, one came good for me.

    • BJ says:

      23 Mar23 March 20:55

      I think that refers only to retaining gold but I’d be very happy to be proved wrong.

      • Alan says:

        24 Mar24 March 18:32

        Yep – I think typo of ‘old’ for ‘gold’ 😉

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